


Dim

by carpelucem



Series: 2013 Ficlet Advent [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Thundershield - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-07 20:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpelucem/pseuds/carpelucem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor’s the only one who wants to see a movie with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dim

Tony never had time for movies, preferred instead to contact the studios for advance release copies of the films he wanted to see, and play them in his state of the art cinema at home. He complained the sound was inferior, the projection quality was too low, there were too many people around. Bruce avoided crowds in general and Natasha and Clint didn’t like to spend time with their backs exposed in the dark that long.

But Steve loved the cinema, had since he was a boy. The smell of the popcorn, the rows of seats, the pre-show entertainment all thrilled him. Even though the ten minutes before the movie had shifted from cartoons and newsreels to coming attractions and ads for soda, Steve still felt giddy when the lights dimmed.

He’d never had a problem going to the movies on his own, spending an afternoon lost in an onscreen story was a great way to kill a Saturday when he was a teenager. But he’d always enjoyed going with someone else, the few times Bucky had come with him had been great, and he remembered being packed shoulder to shoulder with the regiment in drafty tents in Italy, laughing their way through Hollywood comedies, transported for a short while from their current situation. 

Thor loved films as much as Steve did, amazed by the tales come to life on the tv in front of him. He was wholly captured by the magic of the movies, and that’s when Steve knew he’d found his partner in crime.

On a Thursday afternoon, after a briefing meeting and their usual sparring rounds, Steve asked Thor if he could take him someplace new.

They walked to the nearest multiplex, about fifteen minutes away. Steve didn’t let Thor in on their destination, had simply knocked on Thor’s door and led the way out of the building.

Making small talk on the way over, Steve laughed as Thor regaled him with a new move of Natasha’s. No one praised her skill quite as highly as Thor did, Steve knew Nat reminded him of Sif. And Natasha was mutually appreciative of the way Thor never held back with her, and their friendship was fast.

“And then, before I could draw a breath, her fingertips were at my throat and I was laid flat. She’s a formidable warrior.”

“Quite a woman, that’s for sure.” Steve agreed, before he put a hand at the base of Thor’s spine, nudged him gently to the left. “We’re here.”

Thor took in the cinema with a gleeful wonder, and Steve knew he’d made the right choice inviting him.

He insisted on paying for the tickets, even when Steve protested.

“It’s the very least I can do, for you are sharing your experiences with me” Thor explained, and Steve stepped back, slipped his wallet back into his pocket. 

At the snack counter, they debated while in line what to order, and Steve began to worry they wouldn’t have enough hands to carry their purchases to their seats. But Thor only wanted M&Ms (he’d developed a sweet tooth for chocolate in his time on Earth) and Steve thought the giant popcorn bucket was sufficient for the two of them.

He’d picked a PIXAR movie, because the animation was a marvel to Steve. The Toy Story saga was sweetly nostalgic for him, and Steve tried not to remember the way he cried through Up!, especially because he remembered the serials of world explorers as a kid and how, he too, wanted to see new places when they came on.

Thankfully, the theater was mostly empty on a weekday, and they chose seats in the rear. Steve was grateful for the new stadium seating, he’d never had to worry about his height being a bother to anyone behind him when he was a kid, but now, he would have worried about anyone within a couple rows.

They settled into their seats, and a few moments later, the lights dimmed, Looking over at Thor, the commercials illuminating the pleasure on his face, Steve smiled in the darkness.

“Better than Tony’s projection room, right?”

“Far preferable, indeed.” Thor whispered. He reached into the popcorn bucket the same moment Steve did, and their fingers brushed, slippery against one another.

He started, began to pull his hand away, but Thor reached out, held his fingers fast against Steve’s, his voice low under the booming trailer. “I yield to you, my friend. Please.”

Steve scooped up a handful of kernels, eyes darting quickly to Thor, who now watched him instead of the screen.

His gaze was disconcerting, and Steve felt the weight of it throughout the film.

As the movie let out, he felt an odd tension that wasn’t present before they’d gone in.

“Could you eat?” Thor asked, and Steve smiled at the still-foreign phrasing that peppered his speech occasionally, before nodding and suggesting a pizza place a few blocks over.

As the bill came, Steve had his money in his palm, ready to hand off to the server without a fuss, but Thor handed her his card before Steve could get her attention.

He frowned at her back, before turning back to Thor, who was finishing the last slice of pizza.

“Why are you distressed?”

“You got the movie, I was going to buy dinner,” Steve started, but Thor just tilted his head, chewing calmly.

“I’m sorry, my friend. I was informed that I should pay for our outing.” Thor crumpled a napkin in his palm and settled back into the booth. “I meant no slight.”

“Who told you that?”

“Tony, before you arrived. Is it not customary for one party to pay while on a date?”

And Steve was sure his mouth could double as the Lincoln Tunnel, the way it was gaping open.

“A date?” he eked out.

“I apologize if I was misinformed of the intent of our afternoon.” Thor signed the slip that came back with his card, sliding the other copy with it into his back pocket. “Nevertheless, I enjoyed our time together.”

And Steve saw Thor’s arm pressed along his in their seats, the pointed way he studied Steve during the movie, the speed with which he agreed to come with Steve and the way Thor was looking at him in that moment, slowly and thoroughly, and yeah. Maybe it was a date.

“I did, too.” Steve smiled, a tentative quirk of his lips that spread when he saw it mirrored on Thor’s face, how he canted his body forward, towards Steve.

“Shall we engage thusly again? Take in another film?”

Steve nodded, leaned in, too. “I’d love to. But I get to pay this time.”


End file.
